By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

HURLEY — It’s the end of an era on the prep baseball diamond for one of the most successful head coaches in South Mississippi history.

Veteran East Central High School head coach Bo Long announced his retirement this week. SouthMiss6 Sports was first to break the news early Monday night.

Long steps away from the helm of his Hornets and his alma mater after 25 years on the staff, including the last 13 as the leader. He led ECHS to back-to-back Class 5A state championships in 2022 and 2023, and won almost 250 games during his time atop the program.

“I’m not going anywhere else to coach, I could never coach anywhere else,” Long said, in an exclusive interview with SouthMiss6 Sports Monday night. “It’s been an awesome 25 years! I’ve coached some great players over the years. But at a place like Hurley, they aren’t just good players- they’re awesome kids too. The school, and more importantly, the community, make it the best place in the world to work. We’ve been blessed here to say the least.

“But after 25 years at the same place, I think sometimes you just need a change. I can enjoy being a fan for a change.”

Bo Long replaced his uncle Gary Long in 2013 after 12 years as his assistant coach.

In what was one of the most impressive spans in prep baseball ever in the “Southern Six”, Long led the Hornets to six south state championship appearances in his 12 full seasons as the head coach at East Central.

Also, the Hornets have only missed the state playoffs twice in the past 30 years, and have made the postseason for the past 16 seasons, including all 12 under his direction.

“Gary took over a program in the mid-1990’s that was mediocre and immediately made it a program that was competitive at the highest level,” Bo Long, who led his Hornets to the Class 5A South State championship series in three of his final four years at the helm, added. “All I’ve done is try not to mess it up over the last decade.”

Bo played for Rocky Long as a head coach while Gary was an assistant. A member of the Long family has been the head baseball coach at ECHS for the past 48 seasons.

While both Rocky (1981) and Gary (2008) each won a state title apiece, Bo is the only coach at ECHS to ever win two state titles in boys’ sports.

Bo Long, who was also the starting quarterback for ECHS during his playing days, said he informed the administration at ECHS of his decision to retire last month, but he did so with some mixed feels because his youngest son Brody will return for his senior season with the Hornets next year.

“I didn’t get to be dad while I was coaching him, but now I’ll have that chance,” Bo Long concluded. “I’ll be able to focus more on him than the entire team for a change. I’m excited about that.”

Long indicated that he will be running his own business in his retirement years along with his wife, who recently retired as well.

A search for his successor is underway.